Cleanser
by sngsngsnyrslp
Summary: Gale and other miners take Madge and many other important merchants captive in a barricaded Justice Building.
1. The Captor

**Yay for updating! I was going to make this one extra extra long one-shot, but personally I enjoy writing two and three-shots. Your thoughts are very welcome! Loosely based off of "Cleanser" by Brand New, btw, just in case anyone's wondering.**

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Cleanser

Blood was trickling down the side of her face when she awoke. Madge struggled against the ropes behind her back and her ankles.

She was being held hostage.

She could only assume they were miners from the Seam. They were wearing the dark grey mining overalls and black masks over their faces. Despite the masks, Madge knew one of them had to be Gale Hawthorne. Other than Katniss, he was the only other person in the District who knew how to use a bow and arrow.

What was happening and why was it happening to her? She wasn't anyone important.

Not to mention, she had been separated from the rest of the group, in a dark corner so she couldn't make out any of the others who had been captured along with her. So she attempted to scoot herself forward to see what was going on. Her captors were talking to the rest of the kidnapped people, but she couldn't make out much of what they were saying.

From what she could gather the group had taken control of the Justice Building. For such a small group, that seemed like a huge feat to her.

"Nobody speak. Nobody get any smart ideas." She heard a male voice yell loudly from the other side of the room. It wasn't Gale who was talking.

"If we don't have any heroics we might just get out of here and home to our families by dinnertime." That was Gale's voice. She'd know it anywhere. Deep and raspy. If she didn't know better it wouldn't surprise her to find out that he spent most of his days with a corncob pipe smoking tobacco. It was the same voice that visited her doorstep every Sunday selling strawberries; the same voice that degraded her as well. It had shocked her that he continued to come every Sunday even after Katniss had left for the games.

A female voice stepped in. "We don't want any trouble."

Gale chimed back in. "We'll take what we came for and we'll leave quietly."

And then she couldn't hear anything. Their voices dropped and everything was muffled by the distance.

Footsteps walked toward her, steadily.

"Where are you going, Princess?" She looked up at the voice. Gale had removed his mask and his gaze was boring into her. Hastily, he picked her up, carrying her bridal style despite her restraints and brought her back to her original place. She had probably scooted forward ten feet. At least he hadn't _dragged_ her back.

He was kneeling in front of her, making sure her restraints were tied tight enough, but not really. He seemed anxious to touch her, almost as if it was just an excuse to do so. Or maybe it was as if he was just trying to have something to do as to not seem so nervous in her presence. Like he was putting on a show of strength and confidence for her.

"What are you going to do with me?" Madge asked apprehensively. But then again if she was going to die, did she really want to know? Or maybe she could convince him not to kill her? I mean they were kind of friends, well more like acquaintances. But wasn't that enough?

His hand was burning a hole into her ankle. He looked up, his grey eyes meeting hers. "Don't you worry Princess, we'll keep you alive 'cause we need bargaining chips and you're the best bargaining chip there is. The sweet beautiful virginal mayor's daughter."

Her eyes shot up and widened as he said "virginal."

Looking at the look on her face, he muttered a sorry. But kept his eyes on hers. "But I'll keep you alive 'cause you're pretty…" His hands traced her jaw and gently traced her lips. A shiver ran through her. Under any other circumstance this would have been her dream, but seeing that all her extremities were tied, she didn't think this could be counted in his favor. "And God knows I'll need something pretty to look at while we…" He trailed off, looking away.

He wanted to kiss her. Badly. Especially with the innocent look she was giving him. She wasn't terrified at all, just a bit nervous, which under these circumstances was incredibly understandable.

His hand reached up to examine her head wound.

"Goddamnit, I told Bristel to be gentle with you. I knew I should've gotten you myself…" He trailed off, grumbling to himself. "I'm sorry," his hand was on her knee now and he was looking into her eyes. "I'll try and find something to clean it up with."

Madge nodded, but said nothing.

Gale could hear one of the other miners approaching them. He forced his hand higher on her leg, now on her thigh, reaching underneath the skirt of her dress, only a few inches away from the edge of her underwear. She swallowed. "It would be so easy, just to tear up what he loves." Madge's eyes widened. What the fuck was happening? Was he going to- She couldn't even finish the horrid thought.

The miner nodded at Gale and then promptly walked away.

"I'm sorry. I can't have them thinking that I'm favoring any of the hostages." He slowly removed his hand underneath her skirt. "You have to trust me, Madge." His fingers tipped her chin to face him and not his hands. "I could _never_ hurt you."

She narrowed her eyes at him before replying, "You kidnapped me."

"I know that. Goddamnit. I _know_ that. But do you know what they've done to us? They've left us with no choice but to revolt. There was this shaft that none of us recognized. I told them not to mess with it, but when I was on my break they went ahead and broke threw the barrier. Do you know what it was filled with?"

Madge shook her head no.

"It was filled with water, Madge. Filled with hundreds of gallons of water. There was only ten of us above the mines taking our breaks at the time. We did all we could to save them, but there wasn't much we could do in the first place. The elevators were cut off by the water. If no one steps in to help them then they're guaranteed a very watery grave.

It's sick. All they did was give the ten of us leave until they get the mines "situated," but they haven't been doing shit. All they're thinking of doing is building some more mines south of those so we can go and work again. They don't care about us. All they care about is exporting coal to the rest of the districts. It's such fucking bullshit, Madge."

"Okay, I understand why you're doing this, but why me? What does my kidnapping do to aid your revolt?"

"You're the mayor's daughter and you happen to be the textbook definition of a daddy's girl. He would do anything to get you out of here alive and tucked back into your bed."

"Stop acting like I'm a child. I'm _not_ a child."

Gale's eyes ran down the length of her body. "I _know_ you're not a child, Madge." His lips moved toward her ear. "Personally I think your innocence is one of your best qualities."

The merchant's cheeks tinged a deep pink.

"So you will willingly help us?"

Madge took a long look at Gale's face. The rigid slopes that made up his cheekbones. The tight line his lips were pulled into. He was anticipating her response. He wanted her to assist them, but not really them because he had just told her that he couldn't show them that he favored her over the others. Who were the others? Were they children of important District Twelve officials as well? Maybe some were the wives. All of these people would surely assist them if they knew the circumstances right? It took her a moment to answer her own question. She should know better. The merchants didn't care about Gale and his coworkers who were looking death in the face. Some barely nineteen she was sure and others with hungry families.

"I'll help you." It was the only response really.


	2. Closer

**Yay for updates! I'd like to know where you guys want this story to go. I have some ideas, but your input is always important to me! Thanks for sticking around and reading!**

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Chapter Two

Gale was watching her closely, making sure that she wasn't lying to him, but it was hard for him to tell because he always got caught on some detail that he had never noticed. They had been staring at each other for the last ten minutes in silence and this was the fifth run through Gale had gone through only to come up with another freckle that he had never seen. This one was on her neck, right beside her jawline, leading up to her ear. He imagined running his lips over the spot, hearing her moan out his name. Madge cleared her throat, interrupting his inappropriate thoughts.

He returned to the topic at hand. "You really want to help us? I mean you're actually willing to help us?" Part of him was in shock. Here was this beautiful, fragile Mayor's daughter. She didn't have to care about what happened to them. She could spit on them and no one would think twice, but she didn't. She actually cared. As he told the story her face told him everything he needed to know, but he still had to make sure. It was all fine and dandy to pity the trapped miners, Gale felt bad for his coworkers too, but to actually take action against the force that was keeping them trapped. Well that was a different story. She didn't even know what it was like down there, not really. Yeah, they all took the field trips to the mines, whether you were a merchant, and unlikely to ever step foot in the mines wearing a uniform, or a future miner. Everyone went, but it didn't really give you a good idea into the career. They didn't tell you about the aching muscles that keep you from doing much else other than work. No one tells you that you're only see the sun on your days off. It's exhausting work. Work that tears you down. Body and soul. Nobody tells you that.

The blonde nodded solemnly, her eyes unblinking. "I mean what are you going to do? You're not going to make me kill anybody are you?" Her eyes showed worry and she began chewing on her bottom lip. Gale focused on something else, other than her perfect white teeth biting down into those full incredibly tempting lips.

He shook his head. "No, definitely not." Or at least he didn't think so. "I'm praying that it doesn't come to that point." It won't. It can't.

She did a double take, chewing harder on the lip. "Wait-what?" Shouldn't there be some sort of non-violence agreement? A trickle of blood was slowly creeping down her forehead. Well, so much for non-violence. At least some sort of no-kill act, that would be satisfactory to her.

His hands were on both of her shoulders, directing her vision to him. "I won't include you in that, I promise, but we have to be prepared for anything. I don't know what your father has planned for us. I'm hoping that knowing that there are hostages in here, especially you, he won't do anything too drastic." He brushed the hair out of her face, though it didn't move as nicely as it normally would have since it was matted with blood to her forehead. "I really didn't want to involve you in any of this, but I knew that this would be a lot harder to pull off without you. I know you know a lot of things that could be particularly useful to us."

She nodded, staying silent. Part of her was annoyed at his wording. It wasn't because he knew she would have a problem with the way they were treating the miners, or the inhumanity of it all. No. It was because she was the Mayor's daughter so she knew stuff. She knew codes, or at least could make a likely educated guess on some of them and she was a good bargaining tool. She pushed the thoughts out of her mind. Whether or not Gale had brought her into this catastrophe for the wrong reasons didn't mean she couldn't stay for the right ones. And even though she would never say it aloud. It was nice to be so close to Gale, especially before when his hands were caressing her face. In her daydreams, she would have never imagined he'd have the ability to be so gentle. Even with the calloused hands, his fingers were as light as feathers. And the way he was looking at her so intensely! If she didn't know better, she'd would've thought maybe he had some sort of affection toward her, but that couldn't be it. He was always teasing her, for her pristine dresses and colorful ribbons. Always speaking against the status quo in the District to her, as if she could do a thing to change it.

A look of consternation darkened his features. "What?" Madge asked, attempting to turn to look upon what he was examining, but she was sitting against a wall.

"Goddamn Bristel did quite the number on you. Let's get you cleaned up." Gale put his mask back on, covering his handsome features, much to Madge's dismay, and brought his hands underneath her knees and back and lifted her up. The merchant could feel his breath against her ear before he whispered. "I've never been here, so is there a special washroom you'd prefer using." The only reason Gale would have ever needed to enter the Justice Building, other than taking over it in protest, was to get married and it didn't seem like that was happening anytime soon considering that the only girl who had caught his eye was in his arms bound with rope.

She gave him a soft smile. "We can use my dad's. Turn left here and then it's all the way down." Gale nodded. His lips weren't too far from hers. If she turned, their lips would be touching. She wasn't going to turn though, maybe if she had Stockholm Syndrome. He wasn't that bad though. Yes, Bristel had injured her and she was tied up, but he was going to clean up the mess his friend had made and in private she could get untied, and maybe in front of the rest her feet could be untied too. It's not like she was going anywhere. She had agreed to be a part of this. Gale took a deep breath. Everything was going to turn out fine. Underneath the pungent smell of iron from the wound on her head, Madge smelled heavenly. He couldn't get enough of it. Some mixture between daisies and some sweet fruit. Completely intoxicating.

When they reached her father's office, Gale struggled to open the door only to find out it was locked. Gale groaned. "Shouldn't you have known that it was going to be locked?" Madge nodded.

"I was about to tell you, but you were concentrating so hard on balancing me while opening the door I didn't want to ruin it."

The miner laughed. "I assume you know where the key is."

"I do. Let me down so you can get it. I don't want you to accidentally, or maybe on purpose, drop me and further wound my head."

Gale chuckled and let her down and followed her gaze toward the potted plant outside the door. The miner dropped to one knee and reached underneath the clay pot, feeling for anything that shouldn't be there. The key was strapped to the bottom.

He unlocked the door and picked up Madge again. He shut the door behind him and set her on her father's desk. First he kneeled down to untie her legs. He yearned to reach up and run his hand down the length of her legs. So pale and so smooth, unlike Katniss's whose he knew were unshaven. Gale took his time undoing the rope's knots, making sure to linger a tad longer than necessary. She had beautiful shapely legs to match the rest of her body.

Madge watched him undo her binds. He could have easily undone her hands first so she could do undo her own legs, but he hadn't. Maybe he wanted to take his time, so she was bound for as long as possible. That didn't really seem like the case though. Her breath caught when he rubbed her ankles, where the rope had caused a bit of chafing. She made a joke to hide it. "I feel like a giant right now."

Gale looked up, a wide grin on his face. "Don't get used to it," and then he was standing in front of her. Each of his hands on either side of her, leaning into her. "Even with you sitting on this desk, I'm about a head taller than you, Undersee."

"I guess gigantism is your cross to bear."

His head fell back, a hearty chuckle escaping his lips. "You know what Undersee? Not enough people give you enough credit. You're hilarious." He looked down between them at her bound hands. "You probably want me to undo these too?" She simply nodded. His hands reached down, again slowly undoing the knots. Why was he taking so long? Madge knew his specialty were snares. Shouldn't these simple knots be easier for him?

Before Madge was able to hop off of the desk, Gale brought her down. "Thank you."

Gale nodded, waiting for her to lead him to the washroom.

"I can do it myself you know?" She added before lifted her again, though this time onto the countertop in her father's washroom.

His hands lingered on her waist. "I know you can, but it's my fault you're here in the first place so I should do it, plus I have an extensive history with injuries." He demonstrated by showing her his scar-filled arms and hands. Her fingers reached out, running over the raised skin. Gale fought a shiver.

With a light hand, Gale brought a damp cloth to her wound, attempting to clean off as much dried blood as possible without injuring Madge.

Gale took his time with every step, being as gentle as possible. He used the same light hand he would have if Posy were the one injured.

"Better?" He asked, after securing the bandage down.

"Thank you. It means a lot to me. It's not very often I have someone looking after me."

The miner's eyebrows furrowed at the statement, but he didn't press further. If she had wanted him to know she would have taken her statement further, provided details. It wasn't any of his business anyway, even if he wanted it to be.

Gale still hadn't moved away from her, and they continued staring at each other before he interrupted the silence. "Have you ever had a boyfriend, Undersee?" As soon as the words came out, Gale was unaware of where they had come from. Yes, he had always wondered, but now was not the time to be asking those sorts of questions, especially not when she was sort of his hostage.

A blush crept onto her pale cheeks and she looked away from him trying to think of something witty to say back since the answer was obviously no. "Why are you interested?" That shut him up.

Or at least she thought it would have. "I don't think the mayor would like me showing up at your door. Flowers in hand. Mining uniform."

Again with the class issue. One step forward. Two steps back.

"My father has only had the nicest things to say about you, Gale Hawthorne."

_Fuck_. He thought. The way her name fell from her lips.

"Yeah Madge I'm sure he does! As the _boy_ who brings strawberries to his daughter who happens to love them, not as some lowly man who loves his daughter."

The words tumbled out of his mouth faster than he was able to censor himself.

Her crystal blue eyes widened ever so slightly as she looked into his slate grey ones. "Wait. What did you say?"

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**Thanks for reading!**

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	3. Give Me Love

**Yay for quick(ish) turn around. Thanks for reading!**

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Chapter Three

His eyes narrowed at her and he muttered, "You heard what I said Undersee. I didn't mean to say it, but now I did and I'm glad it's out there. Not that I expect you to return my feelings or anything." He turned away from her, but he didn't look embarrassed.

And then she laughed right in his face. The sound of her laugh usually would have made his heart leap out of his chest, but this time, in this situation, it did the opposite. He could feel his heart sinking into his gut. "What's so fucking funny?" What the fuck was wrong with her? Gale did not do this. Gale didn't bear his heart for girls to see. He didn't bear his heart period. She should've been happy, completely ecstatic that he felt enough for her to vocalize his feelings, even if it was on accident. That didn't change that he did mean them.

"I'm sorry Gale I really don't mean to laugh at you, but right after you tell me you love me you give me the dirtiest look I've ever been given. Isn't that a bit odd? Not to mention the fact that you constantly undermine anything I've ever said in your presence. I mean c'mon Gale you don't love me. You just swore at me!"

He stepped closer to her, their noses almost touching now if he bent his head, but she could hardly make out the expression on his face because he hadn't taken off that stupid mask. They were close enough to kiss. Definitely close enough to kiss, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen. Gale was sort of starting to scare her with the way he paused in front of her and she could feel his hot breath on her face, like he was about to rip her head off. Maybe they'd be kissing now if she hadn't opened up her stupid mouth, but it wasn't really her fault. He did act like that. It's only been since they've been here that he's treated her as if she were part of the same species as him.

"Don't tell me how I feel," he growled and walked out the door. Well that was that.

Madge stood frozen for a few minutes, completely stunned before she hopped off of the counter and moved toward the door to see if Gale had left. He hadn't. He was sitting outside on the couch in her father's office with his head in his hands, his mask on the floor. He didn't look like he wanted to see her, so she pushed the door ajar and returned back looking at herself in the mirror.

She was glad that Gale had left her alone for a little bit, even if it did mean he was mad at her. At least now she could disinfect the parts of her body that she didn't want Gale to see, or any male actually.

When she turned she could see the holes in her dress that she could only assume were caused when Bristel dragged her on the ground. They really were starting to really irritate her skin.

Thankfully, her dress buttoned down the front, so it was easy for her to unbutton it down to the top of her hips. She was also happy she didn't wear a slip this particular day or it would've been a hassle to take all that off. Looking at her back in the mirror she could see that there were some rocks still stuck in her skin, that hadn't fallen from basic movements. Those were the ones that hurt the most at this particular moment in time. She would've had Gale ask Bristel to help her, but since she was the one who caused all of Madge's wounds she wasn't feeling particularly friendly towards the young woman at the moment. Especially not enough to ask her to help heal the wounds she'd inflicted in the first place.

It was going to be annoying and would've been a lot easier if she had someone to help her, but she was going to disinfect these wounds if it was the last thing she did. The second the rubbing alcohol hit the skin of her shoulder she cried out in pain against her will and better judgment. The second application went a bit smoother; she was prepared this time and bit her lip to stop her loud cries from escaping. But it didn't really matter because Gale had heard the first one and was standing in front of her, worry in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" At the sight of her bra-clad torso his eyes widened and he brought a hand up to cover his eyes. "Oh shit! I'm sorry. I didn't mean- I just heard you in pain and I came running."

She turned, taking in the young man in front of her, hand covering his eyes to shield him from the sight of her bare torso, it kind of made her laugh. Madge brought the dress up to cover her torso, but didn't button it before approaching Gale. She couldn't pretend like she didn't like Gale. The majority of her life was spent hoping Gale Hawthorne would notice her, treat her right, and now that he was she just couldn't believe it, couldn't accept it. She was sure if thought hard enough about it she could bring up any number of snide comments Gale had made towards her, some of which caused her to shed a few tears. So what was all that? Verbal love taps?

The miner still had his hand covering his eyes, so he didn't see her approach him and he didn't realize her proximity until she was standing right in front of him. He couldn't see her still, but he could hear how close she was by her voice. "Gale, you can put your hand down now," she softly brought down his hand.

His eyes widened at the unbuttoned dress. It was only a four-inch wide gap or so, but it was enough for him, almost too much for him. His eyes focused on the exposed skin. A small bow at the center of her pale pink lacy bra at the valley between her breasts caught his attention. He'd never really paid much attention to her breasts, now that he really thought about it. It wasn't like she was much of a cleavage-baring girl and he had always been caught up with her legs in those flimsy little sundresses, but her breasts were really nice if he didn't say so himself. They did not disappoint. They weren't huge or anything, they looked like they'd fit perfectly in his palms, not that he was imagining palming them or anything. Who was he kidding? Of course he was imagining that. He was only human after all. The skin looked soft and smooth and Gale yearned to bring his hand up and drag his fingers down from the top of her neck toward the bottom of her flat stomach, nothing more. Just a touch was all he really wanted.

"Gale?" The merchant asked, her eyes downcast for a few seconds, before they returned to meet his. "Make me believe you."

His first thought was to take her in his arms and kiss her until she forgot her own name. He'd made girls believe the same thing when he hadn't exactly returned the feelings, but he didn't think Madge would like that very much. "How?" he asked instead. If she wanted proof he'd give it to her, though he didn't know other than his words what other proof there was, that and kissing her until she forgot her name, that might be proof enough for her.

She tipped her head, in deep thought over the question.

"Well…" she started, as if she were making this up as she went along. "Uhm… Maybe you can start off by telling me why me. I mean it's not like we've had any deep conversations to bring this newfound love for me to the surface. If anything you probably avoid talking to me more than you actually talk to me."

Gale chuckled. "To address to me avoiding conversation with you; you make me nervous and that's not something I'm used to Undersee. I've always been in control in my other relationships, but with you I feel completely out of control. My body doesn't do what I want it to when I'm around you, I can't think straight. I mean you just saw that in action. I just told you I loved you for crying out loud and asked if you had a boyfriend." He ran his hand through his hair, obviously frustrated with himself. "I would _never_ ask those things to any other girl Madge. I'm a lot smoother usually, but when I'm around you I'm just so fucking nervous."

The blonde's eyebrows furrowed, obviously confused. "Why would I make you nervous, Gale?"

"Are you kidding me? Look at you and then look at me. Even when your clothes are dirty and ripped they still look ten times better than anything I could ever own."

Her lips downturned, that was obviously not what she wanted to hear.

"Goddamnit! I don't even know what I'm saying. That's not what I mean or what I wanted to say. It's like my mind is always replaying that class Seam-Town argument and I don't even believe it, not really. What the fuck?!" The frustrated miner turned away from her, walking toward the corner of the washroom they resided in and sitting down, his head in his hands, knees slightly bent toward his body. "Okay," he took a deep breath, looking up at her. "What I mean to say is that you are this beautiful, intelligent, kind girl who should want nothing to do with me, not even because I'm a miner, but because I am not kind. I am not intelligent. I am completely unworthy of you and if I talk to you I know you will realize this and it would crush me, so I would rather sit around in my fairy happy land imagining that the only reason you don't love me is because I push you away and don't give you any real chance to because the- I honestly can't afford to accept the alternative. Not with Katniss gone, me starting the mines and definitely not with all of this going on now." He looked oddly vulnerable to Madge, his eyes pleading as he looked up at her. "What were you bringing the Everdeen's when I passed you the day after Katniss left?"

"I was bringing them a basket of bread, fruit and other food. I figured with Katniss gone and you going into the mines soon they'd need all the extra help they could get."

He smiled, replaying the moment in his head. "That's why I'm in love with you, Madge. You do things because you're kind, because you care. Not once did I think you were doing it out of pity. You're just this generous girl and I know if I asked you for something, like really asked you for something I desperately needed you wouldn't hesitate to give it to me, even though you think I hate you and that I'm kind of an asshole."

"So that's why?"

Gale grinned. "Well that's not the only reason, but I've got to keep some mystery woman."

She smiled, shyly pushing her hair behind her ears. Very cute, Gale thought to himself. Madge proceeded to walk toward the mirror above the sink and grabbed a hand towel off of the rack. She turned to look at Gale who hadn't moved from his spot in the corner. "Would you help me? I can't reach all the spots on my back." A deep blush covered her face and had spread down to her chest, what he could see of it.

The miner walked toward her, awaiting the removal of her dress so he could examine the damage to her back. He hadn't gotten a good look at it when he had entered the room, accounting for the fact that he was under the initial shock of seeing that much of her skin.

Slowly, Madge brought the fabric down, pulling both of her arms out of the sleeves. Quickly, she grabbed the hand towel to cover the front of her torso, but honestly it didn't do much. Gale was a lot taller than her and from his point of view he could see right down and see what the towel was supposed to be covering, but he was raised better than that and only took a peek before bringing his attention toward the injuries covering the expanse of her back.

The injuries weren't that bad, but he could definitely see why Madge would be bothered by the cuts, varying in depth.

She turned her head, trying to see as much of Gale as she could out of her periphery. "I had started working on my right shoulder when you came in."

"Does it hurt?" Gale asked as Madge handed him the medical kit.

She shook her head, "Only some of them do."

He nodded, "Most of it are just scrapes and bruises, but the rocks are really embedded in some of them." He shook his head. "I explicitly told her to be gentle with you."

Rubbing alcohol in hand, Gale soaked the fabric of one of the smallest towels, he brought his hand around Madge, "Squeeze it, it'll help with the pain. I wouldn't want you to bite through that bottom lip of yours." Madge grabbed the hand, bracing herself for the pain. Gale tried to be as gentle as possible, but he was familiar with the pain and knew there wasn't anything that could be done to lessen it. She gave him a hell of a squeeze, harder than he had expected out of her. And to think he had only disinfected the scrapes, he hadn't even gotten to the much deeper wounds.

"Okay, Madge. I'm getting to the deeper ones now. These are going to hurt a hell of a lot more. You're about to make me lose all feeling in my hand, but that's okay, just keep on squeezing." He grabbed the tweezers from the kit and carefully removed the embedded pebbles covered in her blood. These were the wounds that were dripping blood. Thank God he didn't have a squeamish stomach because some of these didn't look very good. He wiped the dried blood from her back. "Okay, I'm going to start now, Madge." Her cries were muffled as she bit the towel that was previously covering her. He moved as quickly as possible without losing any of the thoroughness. "You're done, Madge. No more pain. I just need to bandage some of the deeper ones. Is that okay?" She let go of his hand and he moved it to her shoulder, reassuring her. Her hand covered it, a silent thank you.

Gale took his time, bandaging the wounds, letting his hands run down her back, across the angry scrapes on her pale skin. What skin wasn't marred was softer than any skin he had ever felt. Her hair fell down from her shoulder, covering much of the expanse of her back. Gale gathered it and placed it back over her shoulder, moving closer toward her.

The merchant could feel his hot breath on her neck; feel him closing in on her. She would've asked what he was doing, but the words were stuck in her throat.

Soft lips made contact with the edge of her shoulder, at the curve where it became her neck; she shivered when they moved against her. "So beautiful," he whispered, causing another shiver. She felt the trail of his lips moving toward the outer shell of her ear. "No control I tell you Madge, but if you tell me to stop." He paused, his breath in her ear. "I'll stop. Do you want me to stop, Madge?" She shook her head.

He kissed all over her neck, whispering sweet nothings into her ear as he went along. "You have such a graceful neck," as his lips ran over her neck. "Such beautiful skin. You don't know how long I've thought about doing this. Tell me Madge, did you ever think about me like this?" She nodded her head, swallowing loudly. "What did you dream about Madge? I'd like to hear about it."

Madge brought her hand up, running it through his thick hair as he sucked lightly on the sensitive flesh of her neck. "We were kissing." She paused before adding. "On the lips."

She could feel his smile against her skin. "Where were we kissing on the lips?"

"We were in my bedroom on my bed." His grin widened, but he asked no further questions. Maybe one day, after this was all over he'd have the chance to make that dream a reality.

He was taking his time, before making his way to her lips. At this time he was in front of her, but his face was buried in her neck, his hands in her hair. It was driving her completely mad.

"Kiss me." She demanded, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I am kissing you."

"On the mouth. Kiss me on the mouth."

Gale removed his head from the crook of her neck and stood up straight. His hands cradled her face, his thumb trailing over her mouth. He wanted to take his time; he didn't know when he'd have another chance to do this with her with everything that was going on around them, the situation they found themselves in.

She let out a cry in protest.

"Patience," he reassured her. "I just want to remember everything about you right in this moment, just as you are right now." He couldn't tell the future and if he didn't get out of there alive he'd want to remember this on his death bed, her wide eyes looking up at him, the blue in them never ceasing to astonish him, her pink pouting lips, and her hair strewn about. He didn't think he'd ever seen someone look so beautiful in his entire life.

He brought his lips down gently pressing them against hers at first. It seemed as if Madge was going to let him be in charge of the kiss. She didn't move to deepen the kiss, but led him take the lead. It didn't matter though because Gale's right hand moved to the back of her neck and he pulled her closer against him, feeling the towel drop to his feet, out of Madge's hands. Her arms wrapped around his waist, pulling his body flush against hers. The warmth of her skin seeping through the material of his mining uniform. He could do this all day, but he knew if he didn't stop right now he'd want to go further, need to go further, and that was going too fast even for Gale's own liking.

So he pulled away slightly and Madge took the cue, pulling away as well. Their breaths labored, chests heaving as they took deep breaths, attempting to regulate their breathing. They were preoccupied, completely caught up in one another and completely unaware of the other presences looking on from the other room.

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**Thoughts? Suggestions? I know this might seem a bit quick, but c'mon they're both hormonal teenagers!**

**Review pretty please!**


	4. Long Talks

**Well I for one am happy the world didn't end. Read and review please! Happy apocalypse!**

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Chapter Four

Gale leaned down, running his lips across the skin of Madge's shoulders and up to her neck. Her head fell back and she let out a delighted hum.

"You're really good at this," she mumbled, letting her fingers rake through his hair. God he has nice hair, she thought.

He chuckled, knowing that if he didn't answer this particular sentence in the right way than everything could go downhill from here. He decided to deflect. "You're not so bad yourself, Undersee." He nibbled on her earlobe. "You never did answer my question."

"If I've ever had a boyfriend?"

Gale hummed a yes against her ear, causing a delicious shiver to run through her. "N-no. I haven't. Daddy set me up on dates, but no boyfriends."

An irrational jealousy ran through Gale's veins, and he brought his hands up to cup her delicate face. "Who? Who's gotten to hold your hands? Taste your lips?" He mumbled the words; their faces inches away.

Madge gaze flickered down to his lips, swollen from kissing, and then back to his eyes. "Uhm…" She looked at him nervously. "Fillip Mellark was my first kiss and I've kissed him a few times. At a party Clint Lake kissed me. But not like this, never like this." Not with her torso bare and with such passion that made it hard to breathe.

He looked at her shocked. "That's it? Two boys? How old are you?"

She gaped at him. Was he trying to embarrass her? "Yes, only two and I'm sixteen." Her tone was terse and she looked away from him.

A look of relief washed over his features. "I just thought more boys would have kissed you. You're so beautiful. I'm just a little surprised is all. Don't be mad at me, I didn't mean nothing by it." He planted a gentle kiss on her lips. "You're just so goddamn gorgeous." He brought her face down for another kiss, his lips lingering against hers. "Fuck, I could do this all day, but I think we should get back to the others." He looked down at her. Her pale skin was flushed from all the kissing they had been doing. It brought a grin to his face. "Maybe you should cover up, babe."

She looked down. In the moment, she hadn't even remembered that her dress was unbuttoned to her hips. She blushed a deep crimson, as she brought the dress over her shoulders and buttoned it.

"Let's get you back." He led her out of the bathroom and into her father's office.

"Do you have to tie me back up again? I'm working with you guys now."

Gale nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think the guys will like that you're on our side. They'll think you're using me, trying to find out everything you know and help your father at the same time. They won't trust you like I do." Gale kissed her on the cheek. "They won't be as tight as the ones Bristel tied. I promise." He lifted her onto the desk, crouching down to retie the binds on her feet. A grin was on his face, "And don't pretend you don't like me carrying you everywhere."

Madge looked away from him, blushing. She did like that, the feel of his hard body against hers, his lips against her ear, wrapped up in him. It was all very nice; being close to him was better than anything she'd ever felt. She could only imagine what it would be like if they were to ever… She blushed even heavier, continuing her far off gaze. She couldn't look at him after thinking that. They weren't even dating! He was just some hot guy who liked to kiss her. But also a hot guy who had confessed his love to her. That had to count for something, didn't it?

She looked down at him, catching him watching her. "What's on your mind, doll?"

"What are we? What is this?" She motioned between them with her temporarily free hands.

He finished tying the knot and stood up, his hands on either side of her body. "Whatever you want us to be, doll. This is all up to you." Her eyebrows furrowed. He elaborated. "You know how I feel. I love you and I'll do anything make you believe that and eventually love me in return."

She smiled at his words. Who knew Gale could be so romantic? "I want us to be something."

Gale tipped his head and rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "That could mean anything. You could want us to be friends, acquaintances, enemies for all I know." He was being cruel. He wanted to hear the words come out of her mouth. I want you to be my boyfriend. She practiced the words in her head, first. Gale Hawthorne. Gale Hawthorne, her boyfriend.

She blushed before starting, "I don't kiss my friends."

He smirked. "That's good, I don't need to compete with Katniss." He paused, seemingly a bit nervous. "So… what do you want us to be?"

Madge couldn't help but smile at his sudden nervousness. It was adorable and so unlike Gale. Since he was so adept at teasing her, maybe she'd give it a go. "Well, I don't know Gale. I've only kissed three boys, maybe I should play the field, kiss a few more." She watched as Gale's eyes turned to stone and his fists clenched at his sides, but he said nothing. "Or maybe not." His entire body seemed to relax at the words. "Do you want me to kiss anyone else?"

Gale placed his hands on her waist, resting his head on her shoulder. "You know I don't." Madge's hands rubbed his back. "Do you want to kiss anyone else?" Gale felt her shake her head. He stood up, looking into her eyes. "So… Just us?"

She nodded. "Only us." Madge leaned forward, touching their foreheads to each other. "You're all mine now? No more slagheaps?"

Gale's eyes widened. "How do you know about that?"

Madge shook her head, laughing. "Girls talk too."

He started to panic, rambling. "They didn't mean anything to me, Madge. I swear. As soon as I realized I loved you, I didn't want anyone but you. All of them were nothing compared to you and I hadn't even kissed you yet. I'm sorry, don't hate me. I would never take you there. You're special and a lady-" She cut him off with a kiss. He looked at her, eyes wide and mouth still open, prepared to apologize further if need be.

"Calm down, Gale. I'm not mad."

"I'm sorry, Madge. You've only kissed three boys and I've done a whole lot more than kiss three girls." He looked ashamed. "I would take it back if I could. I'd wait for you." He stopped, suddenly realizing the words he was saying. "I mean I'll wait for you now too. I don't want you to feel pressured to be _with_ me because I'm older and more experienced than you. I don't want anything like that. Ahh fuck. I mean I want you. Of course I want you. Who wouldn't want you? Oh my God. It's happening again. Goddamnit."

She wrapped her arms around him. "Stop talking Gale. We just started dating, we don't have to have that conversation just yet."

Madge tried not to seem as surprised at the confession as she was. Be cool and collected, she told herself. She wasn't the only one already skipping ahead in their relationship. Gale Hawthorne actually wanted to have sex with her. She considered the facts. She liked Gale. She really liked Gale. He was in love with her. It was one hundred percent likely that she would fall in love with him as well and then they'd have sex. Sometime in the distant future, she was going to have sex with him. The thought made her incredibly nervous. He had already had a few goes at it. What if she sucked? What if he broke up with her because she sucked? She looked up at him. He was looking at her with such love in his eyes. Okay. Maybe he won't break up with you because you suck. He'll teach you not to suck, right? She went over the thoughts in her head over and over before Gale grabbed her hands, bringing them up to his lips.

"You should follow your own advice, doll. We're not even there yet. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Just remember your innocence is one of my favorite things about you" He smiled down at her. "Okay, now I gotta tie you back up, missy."

When he finished he gave her a lingering kiss. "All mine," he murmured.

"And _you're_ all mine," she responded smiling.

He laughed, "You're acting like I haven't been wanting that all along."

The binds on her wrists and ankles were a lot more comfortable than the ones she had on previously. That Bristel girl must really not like her.

Gale put on his mask before he picked her up, placing the key in his mouth.

"This would've been a lot easier if you had tied my hands after we got out of here. Then I could've locked the door."

Gale gave her a look, since his mouth was obviously busy. She smiled innocently.

He placed her down on the floor, his hand on her back to steady her just in case as he locked the door behind them. He had noticed as they were leaving that it wasn't completely closed and he could've sworn that they had closed it on their way in. He shook the thoughts away, obviously he hadn't.

He loved the way she felt in his arms, so light and warm, her scent enveloping him.

They arrived sooner than Gale wanted to the corner in which he had kept her. He crouched down, placing her gently on the floor. He paused for a few minutes, "I'll be back in a few, alright?" She nodded and he walked away.

He hadn't taken ten steps before; he was pulled into an abandoned hall. It was Thom and he looked furious.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Hawthorne?" Thom grabbed him by the lapels. "No one said anything about fucking the hostages. I saw you in that fucking office bathroom. You can't do that to Princess Undersee. If her dad finds out then we're fucked. They won't care that we want to end this peacefully. He'll want your blood."

Gale pushed him roughly. "I'm _not_ fucking her. She's my girlfriend."

He scoffed. "Girlfriend? You must be delusional, Gale. Seriously the stress from this must be getting to you." Thom pulled them into an adjoining room.

"Yes, my girlfriend. Just stop. She wants to help us. She gets it. I know what you're thinking, but she's not on her father's side. She's on ours. She knows codes and shit. Everything will be easier if she's cooperating with us and on our side."

Thom watched him in awed silence before his fist collided with the side of Gale's.

The injured miner cradled his cheek. "What the fuck was that for Thom?"

"For not keeping me informed, you little shit. I went to see if everything was alright with Undersee and you because you two were taking a long ass time when me and Bris see you mauling her face off and her half naked. Bris flipped her lid."

"Flipped her lid? Why?"

Thom gave him a look, before hitting him in the back of the head. "Are you serious dude?"

Gale's eyebrows furrowed. "She's in love with you dude and there you are making out with the mayor's daughter." Gale swore under his breath. No wonder she had been mistreating Madge so badly. She probably had suspicions of his feelings.

"Well what do you want me to do?"

Thom ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. "I don't know. We both know that even if there were no other girls left on the planet you still wouldn't like Bristel in that way. I know that. She's our friend. We've known her since we were like three. I'm not saying anything about that. I just don't know what to tell you. Don't leave her alone with Madge though because I don't know what she'd do. She can be fucking crazy sometimes."

"So what do I do? Tell everyone that Madge is on our side?"

Thom shook his head violently. "No, do not even think of doing that. Bristel will not trust that girl. I mean personally, no bullshit, I don't either, but I trust you. I trust you with my life." Thom put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Thanks. I appreciate that. I promise you that she won't fuck us over."

Thom slapped his arm. "I don't think she'll fuck us over." He paused glancing over his friend's features. This was a man in love. "I just don't want you to lose sight of our goals."

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**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Altercations

**I would've had this out yesterday, but my brother wanted to spend time with me. Yuck. Anyways. I hope you enjoy this turn of events. Any suggestions for the rest of the story would be welcomed!**

**Thanks for reading! Reviews help me write!**

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Chapter Five

Madge sat staring at the ceiling above her head for twenty minutes after Gale left her. The tiles were incredibly dirty, and she thought she saw mold on some of them, not that they'd ever get replaced. Counting the ceiling tiles was the only thing she could think to do as to not go insane. She was up to one hundred and thirty tiles before someone came in. She had expected to see another masked miner, but it wasn't, it was Bristel, unmasked. The older girl stared down at her. The merchant looked up with a blank look on her face. It wouldn't be useful to get smart with the other girl since she was the one in a position of power at the moment. It was obvious that she disliked the mayor's daughter. Madge tried not to worry herself too much, knowing that if anything too serious happened Gale would come to her rescue.

The brunette had a sneer on her face as she looked down at the small girl, so perfectly petite and beautiful. Despite how much the older girl hated her, she couldn't deny that, at least physically, there was reason why Gale was so enthralled by her. But to Bristel's delight he couldn't have her. "Have you been trying to get your ties undone so you can go tell Daddy?" she smirked down at the girl. Madge looked down at her wrists, the ropes around her wrists and ankles were tied a lot looser than Bristel had, as Gale had promised, and in fact looked as if they would be easy to get off, at least that was the case with the ropes around her hands. If Gale couldn't get to her if Bristel tried anything than maybe she could get the ropes off her wrists in time to defend herself. "He thinks you're so fucking special, doesn't he?" The female miner paused, her words thick with emotion. "He doesn't even realize how you're going to fuck him over. Fuck us all over. You're going to fuck us all over and they don't even know what's coming to them." Madge gasped when she felt a sharp pain in her cheek. "I fucking hate you and the rest of us do too. He's going to hate you too when you ruin everything for us. That's all you fucking townies know, ruin and step on the rest of us." Another sharp pain went through Madge's other cheek. She felt like crying out, she knew she should have, but she couldn't. She just couldn't give her the satisfaction.

Gale and Thom walked quickly when they heard the screaming; the angry words echoed through the hallways. Gale swore aloud when he saw his supposed friend perched over his girl. From his angle he could see her fingers gripping into the blonde's shoulders, the furious look upon her face and the spit practically coming out of her mouth as the words of hatred spewed from her mouth. Gale had been the one to tear her off. Any semblance of self-control had fallen away as soon as he saw the red hand marks on each of Madge's pale cheeks. He pushed her into the corner, vaguely aware that Thom had approached Madge, most likely making sure that Madge was okay.

"What were you fucking thinking?" His first thoughts were to yell at her for even thinking of touching _his_ girl, but he thought better, his voice would carry and then they'd know all about his relationship and all of the fellowship they'd established would be wasted and he couldn't have that. This still mattered, he had goals with this rebellion. All Bristel seemed to care about was getting her revenge on the petite merchant for some perceived slight. How was Madge to know that Bristel was in love with Gale when Gale himself didn't know?

The girl's eyes were wide open and she looked apprehensive to answer, unsure if the question was rhetorical or not. There was a fury in the young miner's eyes, and he looked as if he was keeping himself in check. She was aware that if she were male he would've gotten punched several times and she would've deserved it. She had gone too far with the pretty merchant, let her anger get away from her. The look in his eyes scared her, she could tell what he wanted to do with her and the idea of it caused hot tears to fall up on her cheeks.

"W-Why-?" The words had started to come out of her mouth, but Gale didn't let her get out more than that one word. What was so good about the little blonde? What did she have that Bristel didn't? Why her?

"No, _I'm_ talking now. If I _ever _see you touch that girl again I will personally make it my duty to make your life a living hell. We both know that I would never put my hand on a woman, but I will make you regret the moment you placed a pinky on her. I know that you dragged her through the rocks on purpose, tied those ropes way too tight." He paused, taking a deep breath. "You will not touch Princess, do I make myself clear?" The girl nodded.

"Only if you don't either."

Gale laughed, his head falling back with each cackle. "I'm the leader of this fucking group, I spearheaded this revolt and if I want to take a prize than I'm allowed to. God knows I need something pretty to look and play with while I'm stuck in this hellhole with the likes of you." He sneered at her. "You really are stupid." He turned away from her and stepped toward Madge, tipping her chin as to face him. "You think Princess here is gonna tell Daddy that I touched her? That she liked it?" He winked at Madge before continuing on, but Madge interrupted.

"_Your_ daddy would be sickened by you," she murmured.

Gale turned, his eyes flickered to Thom's, whose eyes were bright and a smirk was on his face. Thom knew this was all an act, and the dramatics that the new couple was creating caused a look of amusement to form on his face that suited it just fine for the occasion, as long as he didn't laugh when it was inappropriate.

For a moment, Gale panicked, a momentary jittering heartbeat erupted within his chest at the mention of his father.

"How'd you know my dad?"

She smiled, her eyes lighting up, she looked disdainful, but Gale knew better. She was just one hell of an actress. "Well now, this wouldn't be the first time we found ourselves in a situation where I have and/or know something you want. It seems to me Gale Hawthorne, this little operation you're running is really nothing without me."

His eyes narrowed at her. "Just tell me what I want to know," he crouched down, his eyes meeting hers. "You know I'm not above using _physical_ force with you." By this time he was aware of some of the other miners standing around them, watching him chastise the beautiful mayor's daughter. Madge watched his hand make its way up her thigh, not again she thought. His calloused thumb, rubbing circles on her delicate flesh. "Kiss me, Gale." He said in a breathy whisper, mocking her.

"Don't touch me!" she cried, shifting her leg as much as possible in her predicament.

"But you liked it so much the first time," he whispered in her ear, though loud enough for everyone to hear. "Tell me, Princess, and maybe I'll touch you again."

"Shut up," she spit out. "You can't talk to me like this."

"Why?" Gale asked, his head tilting in a condescending manner. "Why can't _I_ talk to _you_ that way?" She stared at him, eyebrows furrowed and mouth in a tight line. "You know what guys? We'll get on out of here. This little Princess obviously needs to have a _private_ discussion with me."

His hands reached out to pick up Madge, throwing her over his shoulder. "Let me go!" She yelled, hitting her tied hands on his back. The guys in the room were cheering him on. Madge was sort of half-glad because she didn't want to be around any of them anymore, she was still fuming from her altercation with Bristel.

Gale walked them toward her father's office, going through the same problem with balancing Madge against the wall while he found the key and unlocked the door. He made sure to lock the door this time. He placed her down onto her father's couch, and removed his mask, a grin brightening his face. "I've got a plan."

"What?" she asked, motioning for him to untie her. She couldn't stand being tied up anymore and would take any breaks from it she could get.

"I'm going to spy."

"Spy?" she asked confused.

"Spy," he confirmed. He brought his wrist up, examining the time on it. "It's four, we probably have another hour and a half before someone realizes that you're all gone. That gives me plenty of time to get out of here and go home, where I'll go to work, only to find out that you guys are here, and come here and talk to your dad. He likes me right?" The blonde nodded. "Okay, so he trusts me, on some level, and will trust me more knowing that I'm acquaintances/friends with the miners in this building and yet did not join this revolt. So he'll think I'm on his side. So I'll naturally find out a lot about what's going on from my time outside and then when it comes to talking, this is where you come in. I need you to talk to them, not anyone else. Your father knows your voice and I can't risk any of my people's lives if he recognizes their voice at another time. Are their any megaphones in here, for when the mics are out?" Madge nodded, gesturing toward the desk.

"Top right drawer."

"Are you okay with talking?"

"Uhm, yeah, but I don't want to be alone in here without you."

"Don't worry about that." He approached her, momentarily forgetting about the megaphone, and gently touched her cheeks. "She will never put a hand on you. No one will."

"Yeah except you, right?"

His face was blank for a moment. "That's an act. You know that. You were playing along too."

"I know. It's just-nevermind. It's stupid."

"No, tell me. Nothing you say could be stupid."

"It's just, what about when we come out as a couple? They're all going to think that I have fucking Stockholm syndrome or something."

"Stockholm syndrome? I don't even know what that is. I doubt they will. Who cares anyway? They won't tell anyone, any of their thoughts about this situation will stay with themselves, they can't tell what happened here without giving away that they were a part of it. They're not that dumb."

"Okay on with the plan."

"Thom will be here with you. I already told him." That seemed doable at least. "They're going to let me get back in here, so I can talk you guys out of whatever you guys are planning to do. I'm going to pretend to be your voice of reason and then I'll tell you what you need to know. I'll be playing both sides." She grinned at the plan. "How does it sound?"

"Genius."

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	6. What You're Made of

**Here's the next installment. I hope you like it!**

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Chapter Six

Gale raised an eyebrow at her body language, she was constantly fiddling with her hair, her fingers braiding and unbraiding the thick golden strands. The blue eyes would glance over at him, but then quickly dart away. She was nervous and something was most definitely wrong.

"What's wrong?" He asked, taking one of her hands in his as to stop the constant plaiting of her hair.

"Nothing," she shot out quickly, her eyes moving to the hand he was holding.

His eyes narrowed. "Are you sure?" He brought the hand up to his lips, pressing them gently against the pursed lips. "I won't be mad or anything. You can tell me anything you want. That's how this thing works. We talk to each other." He hoped that the honesty and love showed in his eyes. He didn't have much, all he could offer her was his honesty and love.

She swallowed and took a deep breath before speaking, "I-I just. You kind of scared me back there. I know in my heart that you're not like that, that you don't really think of me as a prize, but my head just keeps asking me if that's all I am to you. Am I just a prize girl for you, to show off to the rest of your friends. Tell them that you were the first to get the mayor's daughter? I mean I know that you're not like that, in my heart, but in my head I just can't help but think that maybe I am like that to you. I don't want to be like that to you."

Gale blinked slowly, allowing the words to sink in. Part of him was taken aback. He told her he loved her, basically embarrassed himself when he was doing so. But the other part of him knew that she had every reason to question him. Most of the Seam boys did try and get into the pants of the Town girls, it was something to gloat over, the more rich the girl was the more you had to brag about.

He had never cared much for Town girls, though he knew they cared a lot for him. Before Madge he couldn't stand the Town girls. They only liked him because they thought he was hot and it would surely get their daddies mad. He was a rebellious phase, not a person to them.

But Madge was different. Madge had always been different. She was quiet just like Katniss, but unlike Katniss she showed every emotion in her beautiful face. It was incredible to watch. He could tell what she was thinking from the way her eyebrows furrowed or raised, the way her eyes glistened or the speed at which they moved across the room. She would be awful at poker because she had so many tells, but Gale couldn't even begin to know them all, but he wanted to. He watched her all the time, and yet there were still tells that he couldn't begin to decipher, like her hands, those hands that were constantly tinkering with her hair or the skirt of her dress. Gale loved those hands, loved the thin delicate fingers attached to them too. He knew they were meant to play the piano, but the hormonal part of Gale wanted to know what else they would be good for. They felt like heaven running through his hair. God he fucking loved when she did that. He wanted to feel them cup his face, hold onto his arms when she was scared and needed reassuring and more. He wanted to know her more than anyone else ever had or would. He wanted to know her intimately, in every sense of the word.

"I didn't mean to scare you. I guess I just got caught up in the act. I thought you were okay with it. You just seemed fine and because you were going along and you were so good at it too I didn't think nothing about it." He tipped her chin toward him with his index finger. "You mean a lot to me, Madge, already and we've only just begun. I know what it's like to just be looked at like you're not a person, maybe not as much as you, but I've felt like that before. You've always been a piece to your father, the perfect daughter. You didn't have much choice but to get in line or have your father face the Capitol's wrath, but you're not that to me." He paused, taking a slow deep breath. "I want you, you, Madge, not Margaret Undersee, the mayor's perfect daughter. I wouldn't care if you were from the Seam or Town, a mayor or a miner's daughter. I'd want you in every life I lived."

She didn't let him continue. Before another word could escape his lips, Madge's mouth was pressed to his and her small hands were cupping his face. He loved the feeling, her smooth fingertips running against the rough stubble on his face. Her hands were so small, so fine and graceful.

At first her body had just been hovering of his, but by now, after the first few minutes of passionate kissing she was straddling his lap now. She was over him, and he couldn't even begin to know where to put his hands. He wanted them everywhere, wanted to feel every part of her, but he settled on her waist, his fingers dipping into the holes left by the rocks she was dragged over. His fingers caressed the bandages and then moved over to the smooth, deliciously soft unmarred skin that surrounded the bandages.

He felt like he could die when she mewled softly into his mouth.

She moved one of her hands away from his face and to the back of his neck where she twirled the hairs at the nape of his neck with those beautiful fingers.

He loved her lips. There was no way he would ever tire of tasting her. He would never get enough, but he needed to get going soon. He had just wanted to say goodbye, had needed his goodbye kiss to get him through the last crucial hours.

"I like you, Gale," she murmured against his lips. His response was to nip at the moving lips. "I like you so much I don't know what to do with myself." She closed her eyes, her breath ragged before she leaned into to kiss him again. Her kiss saying all the words she couldn't. "I didn't think it would be like this. I didn't think I'd ever find myself falling in love, thought it was just the stuff in fairy tales. I thought I'd just get married off to another merchant."

He wrapped his arms around her, and brought her against him. He kissed the skin that covered her collarbones. That wouldn't be happening, not if Gale could help it. She'd be with whoever she wanted and at this moment in time she wanted him. He'd give her the kind of love they could only begin to discus in fairy tales. Compared to what he felt for her, that was only scratching the surface.

When he looked up his eyes met hers and she kissed him again. For a girl who'd only been kissed by two boys she was one hell of a kisser, much better than any of the girls he'd ever kissed.

He hated to leave, but he pressed lingering kisses on her mouth, slow and passionate. Something to remember him by.

"I have to go."

She looked scared for him, her eyes boring into his.

"I'll be fine." His fingers moved to tie her back up, she let him even though he could tell she hated it, but she was a good sport, letting him do what needed to be done in order to keep things going.

"I don't want you to go," she murmured, her voice hardly a whisper. She felt selfish, could barely speak the words aloud without feeling guilty for even thinking them. They had to do this. Things had to get done and Gale was brave enough to put himself in the line of fire. It was so admirable.

He didn't have to look up to know she was staring at him as he tied her feet, he could feel the crystal gaze on his face. "I don't want to go either, but-"

"But you have to," she finished, "for the buried miners."

"For the buried miners," he repeated in emphasis. They had to keep their cause in mind. He wouldn't lose sight like Thom had warned.

The sullen miner took his time bringing her to the front, his steps slow. He buried his nose in her mussed hair, making sure to remember her scent just in case things went sour. He'd have her to remember if things went south.

If there hadn't been any miners around he would have kissed her goodbye, would have found comfort in her soft lips being pressed against his, but he didn't have that luxury. He made sure to leave her with some encouragement, knowing she didn't want to be alone with Bristel.

"Show her what you're made of," he whispered low enough that only the two of them could hear.

* * *

Madge could feel herself tremble on the inside whenever another miner showed up. It hadn't been more than twenty minutes since Gale had left and she was already missing his presence. She would have taken him berating her to get the others off of their trail. Another ten minutes passed before Bristel came in. Despite the fact that Madge had been expecting her, she had still hoped that the girl would have listened to Gale's warnings. But they both knew that Gale wasn't there to enforce his threats.

"Hey Princess," the dark haired girl greeted her with gritted teeth.

Gale had told her to show her what she was made of. She had to get across that she wasn't some stupid princess that Bristel could toss around like she was no one. She was Madge fucking Undersee.

"Hello Bristel," Madge gave the girl her brightest and biggest smile.

"Why do you look so happy? Your little savior isn't here to protect you anymore."

Madge laughed, "I know. He made sure to give me the best thing to remember him by." She paused for emphasis. "How long have you been in love with my boyfriend, Bristel?"

The girl sputtered, her eyes widening. "I'm not in love with Gale!" She defended weakly.

"I think we both know why you were so upset when you found out about us."

"Us?" Bristel cackled. "There is no 'us' between you and Gale. He's not even your boyfriend. You're his little plaything, a fucking prize and nothing more. You'll never be anything more to him."

"You're pathetic," Madge growled. "A sad little girl." The merchant wasn't surprised when she heard a loud crack through the air and felt the familiar stinging in her cheek, except this time it was the result of a fist hitting her face. It only made her laugh though and she spit out the blood in her mouth from biting the inside of her mouth. "Do it again, show me just how pitiful you are. I can take anything you give me, you stupid stupid girl. You know it's not my fault. I know you know. Gale might think he can trick you, but I know. You see it. You saw through the smoke screens he put up. He can't help loving me any more than you can help loving him."

"Shut up!" She screamed once again. "He doesn't love you!" She felt the stinging again, but this time on the other side of her face, but closer to her lip. A warm liquid was dripping down her chin; she must have split her lip. It didn't even matter. She could hardly feel it she was too caught up in the moment. She could feel herself smiling, knowing that Bristel's screams would rouse attention. Thom would be here any second now, but not before Madge had made a point to the girl.

"Keep telling yourself that. I am Madge fucking Undersee and Gale Hawthorne is in love with me. There's nothing you can do to change that no matter how hard you try."

She could feel the girl on top of her now, knocking her out of her seat. Fists were continually beating into her stomach. It was hard to breathe, but Madge brought her knees up, fast and hard. She didn't care whether or not they stopped Bristel or at least covered her stomach for a few seconds. She needed that time to catch her breath.

It didn't matter though. She could feel herself being pulled away from the flailing fists of Bristel. A swell of pride erupted in her chest when she felt her feet connect with a body and heard Bristel gasp.

Madge could finally breathe again.

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**Review please! :D Things are just getting good!**


	7. Confrontations

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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Chapter Seven

Madge was sure a simultaneous "Fuck," went through everyone's minds when they heard sounds and rumblings coming from outside the justice building. Peacekeepers.

The merchant's head swiveled to look at Bristel, as did Thom's.

"God you're stupid," he hissed at Bristel. His hands moved to quickly untie Madge's hands. His gaze fell to her ankles and Madge bent down to untie the final binds.

Bristel opened her mouth to protest Madge's new freedom, probably fearing that she would lunge at the girl, but she wasn't vengeful and couldn't afford any more injuries, especially not any visible ones.

Thom didn't let her speak though; he interrupted her as soon as her mouth opened. "Look at her. Do you think her daddy's going to let us go so easy now? What were you even thinking? Do you ever fucking think?" He finished his scolding, grabbing Madge's hand leading them away from the group. They needed to get her cleaned up and form a plan.

They were only a few yards away from the rest of the group now, but far enough that they would struggle to hear their conversation. Not that they were even interested in eavesdropping when a huge confrontation was about to happen, one that would affect all of their lives. The peacekeepers could always be instructed to run the building, hostages be damned, trusting that there wasn't enough miners to hold down the fort. (It was the truth anyway). Everything was all on her. This had to go right.

"I'm going to assume you don't have any makeup with you to cover that bruised cheek?"

She shook her head, her hand absent-mindedly coming up to feel the bruised skin. She'd never been in a fight before; she didn't think she'd ever be in one and yet in the last few hours she had gotten slapped twice and punched twice. She had also kicked someone in the stomach.

It was like some alternative universe here. One where she got in fights and Gale loved her. The latter seemed less likely than the former.

"They're going to think we're fucking torturing you," the miner buried his head in his hands as he took a seat. "Gale is going to beat the shit out of me for letting her near you." He looked up, his grey eyes settling on hers. "I really didn't mean to, Princess I fucking swear. I'd never let my best friend's girl get hurt, especially not by Bristel." His gaze fell on Bristel, sneering at her figure in the distance. "I have no idea when she got like that. Her heart's as black as fucking coal now." He turned away from said girl, looking at Madge again. "I guess jealousy'll do that to you." Thom stood up. "In the meantime we could at least get you cleaned up a bit."

They walked in silence to her father's office. He probably assumed that she would be most comfortable in a place most familiar with her. They needed the megaphone from his desk anyway.

It didn't feel right to be in this room without Gale. It probably wouldn't feel right to be in this room with her father anymore either, not after all the kissing they'd done all over this place. She felt her cheeks burn from the memories, especially knowing that Thom and Bristel had caught them during one of their most private moments.

When she looked at herself in the mirror, she was horrified at the sight. Her hair was all over the place, at least that could be easily fixed, but her face, even makeup wouldn't have fixed it. Her lip was the worse off, it wasn't just her lips that were bruised, the entire left side surrounding it was bruised, a sickly dark purple, not to mention that the lip itself was split open, blood spilling from the cut. It matched the right side of her face in color. The cheek was one thing; she could've probably claimed that happened before she was brought here, but the bloody lip? That couldn't have happened anywhere else and definitely not by accident. A fist-sized bruise on your mouth doesn't happen by accident too often.

She ran a washcloth under the cool water, ringing it before bringing it to her lip. It stung and she winced from the pain. Thom muttered another apology that she quickly dismissed. He didn't do this to her. There was only one person to blame and she wasn't here right now.

She murmured something about wishing Gale was here. He had been great at tending to her many wounds, gentle, caring and most important thorough.

Thom chuckled from his place at her side. She turned to look at him.

"What? He was good."

"Maybe good at _kissing _your wounds."

Madge laughed at that. He was very good at that too.

His face turned serious for a moment before he spoke again, "he's very serious about you y'know? I've never seen him like that about a girl before, not even Katniss. I just-I couldn't believe it at first."

"Why?"

"I don't know," he rubbed the back of his head nervously. He didn't want to say that she was too good for his best friend, but that was the only thing in his head. "You're like really pretty and I don't know, the mayor's daughter maybe. What would you want with a miner?"

"Why wouldn't I like him? He's more than just a miner to me," she defended tossing the bloodied rag into the sink.

"He won't ever be able to provide the life you're used to living. You have to know that." Thom was looking at her as if it was the most obvious explanation in the world. _You can't be with him, you're a merchant and he's from the Seam. You have to know the implications of that._

"I do know that. I honestly don't care." She'd spent her entire life in an empty mansion. She raised herself. By no fault of her mother, since she was ill, there was no one to fix her hair, no one to teach her about boys. Her entire life was trial and error, except there was no room for error. She had no other choice but to make the right decision each time. She would have given anything to have the kind of relationship the families in the Seam had. Yeah, they didn't have much, but they had each other. She'd spent some evenings at the Everdeen's, having dinner with them and they were happy. Despite all of her mother's mistakes, Prim still looked at her as if she were mother of the year. Her mother couldn't even sit up for longer than a few minutes at a time. All she'd ever wanted was a family.

He laughed, mocking her. "You say that now. You've never had to skip dinner on purpose. You've never gone without food. What could you and Gale possibly have in common?"

She didn't know. They hadn't had the time to get as close as she would've liked, but she couldn't let Thom know that. "Well we're both on the same page for the buried miners or I wouldn't be here helping you guys now."

Thom's face transformed again, remembering that she was helping the very people that kidnapped her. That was a testament of her character, or at least of her devotion to Gale. "I-I'm sorry Madge. I don't know what-I didn't mean it. It's just-he's my best friend. I have to watch out for him. It can't be like Katniss. He spent years pining after her for nothing. He was serious about her too, until he gave up. I didn't think he'd ever get over her and then months later I see the two of you, kissing like it's going out of style in this very bathroom. You have to imagine my surprise."

She nodded. It had surprised her too. She looked him in the eyes. "I'm serious too."

He grinned, patting her on the back, before remembering the situation they were in. "Fuck," he groaned.

"He doesn't have to see me." After seeing Thom's face she explained further. "I mean can't I just say everything from behind a curtain or something, just peering into the window?"

"What if he asks to see your face than what?"

"Well then we're fucked."

He shrugged. "Well that settles that. I think we should get out there soon."

Madge grabbed the megaphone with both hands because her hands were shaking too hard. She murmured good thoughts to herself, words of encouragement. She was just going to be talking to her father probably, just like any other Sunday night dinner. Just imagine that. _Imagine that you're sitting across the table from him, except you're not a hostage and your face isn't throbbing. _

"Are you going to be okay?" Thom asked, concern written all over his face. "I could do it if you want. He probably won't ever meet me."

She shook her head. It wasn't a risk she was willing to take. "Someone check outside for Gale."

Another miner, one much older than Thom and Gale answered. It didn't look like he was there. Madge's heart dropped. Maybe they had caught him sneaking out. What if they had- She stopped herself from thinking another dreaded thought. He was fine. Everything was fine. Everything would be fine.

She turned on the megaphone, bringing it up to her mouth. "Daddy?"

There was a long moment of silence before her father answered. "Madgie?" His voice was quiet. She could hear the worry and fear in his voice.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise, Dad. I wouldn't be talking to you if I weren't."

"Okay," he paused. "What do they want from you all?"

She looked to Thom, who looked back at her, urging her to continue. She knew what they wanted. She wanted it herself. "They want you to fix the mines."

"Madge you know that-that I can't just do that."

"Why not? There are people down there!"

If she hadn't trained herself to be the perfect mayor's daughter she would have probably let her emotions get the best of her. She would have threatened him the best way she knew how. She might have said something like, "We'll break all the locks that we don't know the combinations to. We'll rob you blind." She could imagine the look on his face, the shock written all over his face. His face frozen in surprise before his eyebrows furrow and his features grow angry. She'd never experienced it herself, but seen his face transform in that same way while on the phone with the higher ups from the Capitol. She'd continue before he could get a word in. "We'll burn it down and if you build it we'll just burn it down again. Make the right choice Dad."

But she doesn't say any of that. That wouldn't put her father in the most forgiving of moods. He'd probably just dismiss her completely, especially if she included herself in this miniature rebellion, saying "we" instead of "they." It'd be quickly dismissed as Stockholm syndrome for sure. She used a different tactic.

"Daddy after the last mining accident you were so upset. We had just gone down to the mines the week before, spent the entire day with all of those great men. And there wasn't anything you could have done. Our district didn't have the funds to fix any of the mines, but we do now. I know we do. We're going to have a victor this year and our district will have extra money. You can spend it now to save lives." She paused, taking a deep breath. "I won't forgive you if you don't and if that's not enough. Well, we'll take what we have to with or without your permission."

She dropped the megaphone, making sure the sound is noticeable as she turned it off.

"And now we wait."

It takes about twenty minutes before she hears his voice and her heart leaps within her chest at the sound. He's safe and everything turned out as planned, so far. Her father will probably never forgive her again. She can just imagine the disappointed look on his face when they get out of this.

"Guys? Madge?"

Madge climbs over everyone to get to the megaphone as quickly as possible. She wipes the hair from her face and smoothes out the skirt of her dress as if he can actually see her behind the thick curtains, shielding her marred face from her father and the crowd of district officials and peacekeepers gathered outside.

"I'm here, Gale."

"They want to make negotiations. Is it okay if I go in, talk to you about some things?"

She nodded her head before realizing he still couldn't see her. "Yes, of course. We're open to that."

She made sure he was fully inside the building and the door behind him was shut before she leaped onto him, pulling him into an embrace. Madge buried her head into his uniform shirt, breathing in his masculine yet citrus-laced scent.

"I was so worried about you. No one could see you through the windows," she breathed out into his chest.

"I was worried about you," he grabbed her face, about to touch his lips to hers before noticing her wince as his hand touched her bruised cheek. "What-What happened to you?"

She was speechless. He already knew what happened to her and there was nothing she could say in Bristel's defense to save her from his wrath. The infuriated miner was already turning to confront her, except she was saved by Madge who wrapped her arms around his middle. "Let's go to my dad's office." She turned to the small crowd of miners gathered at the windows, "We'll be right back." They all nodded, silently thanking Madge for taking on the task of cooling Gale down before he had to be in the same room for a prolonged amount of time with Bristel.

He slammed the door to her father's office behind him. "What did she do to you?" he yelled, raking his fingers roughly through his hair.

"She punched me," Madge squeaked out.

"How was she able to do that? I told Thom to watch you. I told him to make sure Bristel wasn't alone in the same room with you at all."

Madge grabbed his hand, pulling on it so he would come toward her and wrap his arms around her. "It's not his fault. You know that."

He picked her up, placing her on the edge of the desk. Now she was closer to his level. Gale leaned his forehead onto her shoulder. "I know that, but he was supposed to protect you when I couldn't."

"I'm fine, Gale."

He pulled away from her. "No, you're not! Look at you!"

She turned away from, ashamed of her damaged face. Her lip was probably twice its size by now.

"No no no no no." he murmured holding the sides of her face in his hands. He made sure not to touch the injured parts of her face. "You're beautiful. You're always beautiful. I-I just feel responsible."

"You didn't hit me, Gale."

"I know, but I should've been there to make sure she didn't."

"Come here."

Gale stepped back into her arms, burying his face into her hair. "I can't kiss you now," he whined.

Madge pulled away, looking up into his eyes. "Yes you can, you just have to be very very gentle." Her fingers toyed with the curls at the nape of his neck, pulling his face toward her ever so slowly until his lips were hovering over hers.

"Gentle?" He asked skimming his lips over hers, barely making contact. It still hurt, but the pleasure she received from his touch was more than enough reward for the pain.

"Gentle," she affirmed pressing her lips against his with the slightest of pressures.

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**Review please! :)**


	8. AN

A/N:

I'm really sorry I haven't been updating, but I honestly have no idea where to go from here.

It'd be super nice if any of you could offer me some assistance.

I am at a stand-still in this story. I thought I just needed some time, but nothing is coming to mind.

Thanks a lot for sticking with the story and being patient!

Celeste


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